Head, meet wall

[boondocks]

One of those weeks we all have, when you wonder why you are doing this...Had a steer a day away from butchering when 3 of the four customers backed out, saying they are too broke. Found out most of my herd are possible carriers for the new AAA genetic (so-called) "defect" (see other thread)... And the guy who does our hay just now cut it. First cutting. On friggin July 20. Not even all in the barn yet. And did I mention he gets 65% of it in return for his efforts?

:bang: :bang: :bang:

My sole consolation is the ability to tell spouse that next time, as I wanted to do, we get deposits ahead of time from all buyers, even if (or maybe even, as here, ESPECIALLY IF, they are co-workers of spouse). Do they think you can butcher a quarter of an animal? :roll:
I tip my hat to those of you who actually make a living at this nonsense! :tiphat:

 

[Nesikep]

I totally feel your pain.. it's why I increased my cowherd so I don't have to peddle my hay off and deal with fussy horse people... I've had people back out of buying a steer that I kept a year especially for them as well, etc..

To the auction they go now unless someone is willing to put their money where their mouth is... My new "deal" is they buy the calf for what he's worth at weaning time as the deposit, balance payable at 20 months.. I will deliver to butcher of their choice, they deal with the butcher.. That way bad cut/wrap doesn't come back to me, there's no excuse saying "I can't haul a steer", and they don't get their meat if they don't pay the butcher.

A lot of these people make insurance and use car salesmen look good

 

[boondocks]

I totally feel your pain.. it's why I increased my cowherd so I don't have to peddle my hay off and deal with fussy horse people... I've had people back out of buying a steer that I kept a year especially for them as well, etc..

To the auction they go now unless someone is willing to put their money where their mouth is... My new "deal" is they buy the calf for what he's worth at weaning time as the deposit, balance payable at 20 months.. I will deliver to butcher of their choice, they deal with the butcher.. That way bad cut/wrap doesn't come back to me, there's no excuse saying "I can't haul a steer", and they don't get their meat if they don't pay the butcher.

A lot of these people make insurance and use car salesmen look good

They sure do! I was worried they would back out and am sorry to have been right. I really would love to know what they were thinking. They didn't know a week ago that they couldn't afford it?
We have a house we have busted our ___ getting it fixed up to rent. Nice house in a beautiful setting. A nice young family came and looked at it this week and said they wanted it on the spot. They have a gross income of almost 100k, and we thought "yay!." Looked into their finances and they are 300k in debt and don't own the shirt on their backs, and lied that they have no judgments against them. They basically admitted to committing fraud in their bankruptcy case too.
I think our HGTV, consumer culture has led people to want things they cannot afford. This week, they have wasted a lot of my time and made me cranky :x

 

[Aaron]

One of the benefits of farming is you don't have to interact with people on a regular basis if you don't want too. I don't understand people that bend over backwards to peddle a few pounds of meat or hay. If that is what it takes to keep your operation afloat, you were running too close to the edge a long time ago.

 

[1982vett]

Looks like another freezer is in order.....

 

[boondocks]

One of the benefits of farming is you don't have to interact with people on a regular basis if you don't want too. I don't understand people that bend over backwards to peddle a few pounds of meat or hay. If that is what it takes to keep your operation afloat, you were running too close to the edge a long time ago.

Unfortunately, with housing rentals there is no way to avoid interacting with people.
And for sure we don't rely on a few pounds of meat or hay to keep things afloat. If we did we'd be in trouble. (See above).
Still, and color me crazy, I think people should treat each other the way they would like to be treated, and not leave people hanging. But i'm a wild-eyed optimist, I know...Need to become bitter and cynical, I'd be happier :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[tdc_cattle]

We raise berkshire pigs. We don't have a lot of people back out but it happens. Usually with a pig I can find someone else or need alittle for ourselves. First cow we fed out for others both halves backed out after I'd already dropped him off. And we had fed one out for us as well so we didn't need the extra meat. We had to buy a second freezer to hold it all.

 

[Aaron]

We raise berkshire pigs. We don't have a lot of people back out but it happens. Usually with a pig I can find someone else or need alittle for ourselves. First cow we fed out for others both halves backed out after I'd already dropped him off. And we had fed one out for us as well so we didn't need the extra meat. We had to buy a second freezer to hold it all.

Non-refundable deposits would go a long way in weeding out the riffraff.

 

[skyhightree1]

We raise berkshire pigs. We don't have a lot of people back out but it happens. Usually with a pig I can find someone else or need alittle for ourselves. First cow we fed out for others both halves backed out after I'd already dropped him off. And we had fed one out for us as well so we didn't need the extra meat. We had to buy a second freezer to hold it all.

Non-refundable deposits would go a long way in weeding out the riffraff.

That's exactly what I do on my pigs and any animal I sell for meat. The deposit usually pays for the cost of the animal if I can't resell then I got a free animal for meat.
Aaron is right it definitely weeds out the tire kickers.. You can't be everyones friend.

 

[tdc_cattle]

We raise berkshire pigs. We don't have a lot of people back out but it happens. Usually with a pig I can find someone else or need alittle for ourselves. First cow we fed out for others both halves backed out after I'd already dropped him off. And we had fed one out for us as well so we didn't need the extra meat. We had to buy a second freezer to hold it all.

Non-refundable deposits would go a long way in weeding out the riffraff.

We've started taking $100 on the pigs. Several people like to make monthly payments so that all that's due at the end is processing. That works out best for everyone IMO.

The cow deal was to someone that I wouldn't have thought I needed to get a deposit from. To much money in a cow to do it again without money down.

 

[Jogeephus]

Only way I will do that is to sell it on the hoof and I only sell halves and full payment is made before I haul them to the butcher. Its amazing how many people only want a quarter but who can find another person to split the half with them when push comes to shove. Also amazing what the pressure one customer can put on another customer if the latter backs out at the last minute and when that doesn't work there is normally someone else wanting one if someone backs out.

 

[boondocks]

Yup we will be making people pay a non-refundable deposit from here on out. These people are co-workers and spouse didn't want it to seem like we didn't trust them. Lesson learned!

Friend of mine who sells pork and beef says his worst customers are his family--they always stiff him or want a payment plan (after delivery, of course). Spouse started to tell one co-worker they could pay later, and I put the kibosh on that immediately.